Original furniture in the drawing room in the Fordlândia museum. Photograph: Colin McPherson/Corbis

Named, rather modestly, after its founder Henry Ford, Fordlândia was an attempt by the car-maker and industrialist to create an independent source of rubber for the tyres on his vehicles, free from the existing manufacturing monopolies. Ford bought a huge swathe of land in the Amazon and began building a strangely American-style town in the jungle, including a golf course, a library and a hospital, as well as shops and restaurants to keep his relocated employees happy. It was a grand failure and now all that remains are the derelict buildings, which can be visited by adventurous travellers.
• Fordlândia is on the east bank of the Tapajós river and can be reached by boat via Itaituba and Santarém in the state of Pará

Source: TheGuardian Read and see more ghost towns and places

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